Hatfield Township Eyeing New Police Station on Cowpath Road

Tony Di Domizio | North Penn Now•

A new Hatfield Township Police headquarters is one step closer to being a reality on Cowpath Road, now that, according to The Reporter, the township Board of Commissioners last month approved a $350,000 architectural and engineering consultation project with GKO Architects.

Commissioners are eyeing the new station to go in on parcels along the 1600 block of Cowpath Road, west of Orvilla Road and across the street from the Snyder Square shopping center. According to the report, the township acquired about two acres total in Summer 2020, which included the parcels where vacant retail buildings stood across from the entrance to Snyder Square. The buildings used to house an insurance agency and bike shop, among other retail establishments.

The new Hatfield Township Police Station, which serves Hatfield Township and Hatfield Borough, will be modeled after the new $8.5-million, 18,000-square-foot Warrington Township Police Station, which GKO Architects also designed, per the report.

Hatfield Township Manager Aaron Bibro said there is a significant cost savings of about $160,000, since the architects are using the Warrington design as a basis for the new station. GKO, according to its architect Michael O’Rourke, the firm could bring on the same civil engineer, construction management firm, law enforcement design expert, structural engineer and mechanical engineer used on the Warrington project.

“I think the taxpayers would like to hear, and I know the commissioners know this: by bringing on the same team that designed the Warrington station, Hatfield will see a savings of about $160,000, because some of the design will be able to be transferred over,” Bibro said at the meeting. “Mike and his team did a great job on that project, and we’re hoping for the same.”

Commissioners and police officials have wanted to replace its police station, located on School Road, across from the township administrative offices, which they have been putting bandages on here and there over the past few decades to stay up-to-par. The list of recent repairs at the station include a new prisoner transfer vehicle entry, a new storage garage, new generator, new exterior upgrades, a reconstructed entrance ramp, and a new procedure in the workday of detectives, who now operate out of space in the township public works building on Unionville Pike, per The Reporter.

Amenities at the Warrington police station include external canopies, solar panels, secured weapons storage, and interview rooms located conveniently by the entrance, per the report.

Now that the consult project was approved, the next steps for GKO include re-evaluating the Warrington plan and determine needs for each space in the station, and developing construction schematics for land development approval, per the report. O’Rourke said GKO would likely oversee the project.